Noor Taj has her mother's strong face and
forthright manner: "What could we bring,
coming on foot? Nothing but a few things we
could carry on our heads. We were forced to
come, because the unbelievers come into our
houses to take away the boys, and open our
cupboards, and take away little girls by the
hair. How could we live like that?"
from the Afghan border, lies Command
er Mohammed Naim, age 22. It is not
hot on this late November day, but Naim
is sweating with the effort of his body to
Along Afghanistan's War-torn Frontier
fight off the effects of its injuries, and his
voice is weak and halting. One side of his
face is wounded by the artillery shell that
took away his left leg and broke his right
leg and left arm during an attack on the
fort at Ali Khel. He was carried on horse
back to Pakistan. "By the grace of God, I
had no pain at all during the journey," he
tells me. "Everything I have done, I have
done for our faith."
A few days later I deliver aletter to Naim's
father, Khan Mohammed, who lives in a
camp in Kohat District. We listen to a cas
sette of my interview with Naim, while men
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